Cedar Crest Graduates 19 In First Winter Ceremony

"Knowledge is not confined to four years. It is a life-long endeavor." -- The Rev. E. Allen Richardson, Cedar Crest College chaplain.

After solemn words, original poetry and The First Movement of Beethoven's Sonata No. 49, 19 Cedar Crest College students received degrees yesterday in the school's first winter graduation ceremony.

College President Dorothy Gulbenkian Blaney described learning as a "stretching" of the mind; not just seeing or accepting information, but each individual connecting that information with his or her own ideas.

Blaney, who spoke easily, as if she was delivering a well-prepared lecture, sometimes referred to members of the faculty by first name. The graduating seniors, sitting in the first row of seats in the Tompkins College Center Theater, were young and old, male and female. Some were mothers with young children sitting in the crowd. Some had already seen their children graduate from college.

"Actually, the most important thing is not the exhilaration or even the stretching ... it's your own capacity to believe in the power of your mind," Blaney told the students.

Alice Anne Miller, a college trustee, quoted portions of Maya Angelou's "On the Pulse of Morning," a poem Angelou had written for President Bill Clinton's inauguration Wednesday.

Sonya L. Thompson of Easton, one the graduating seniors, read her own poem, words seemingly inspired by her pursuit of a college degree in business administration and paralegal studies.

"... You have learned with every decision there are chances you must take. Life is more than mere existence," Thompson said. "It is facing the challenges of change."

In addition to Thompson, the following students received degrees at yesterday's ceremony: